Intrinsic toroidal rotation, density peaking, and turbulence regimes in the core of tokamak plasmas

Observations in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak show a correlation between the gradient of the intrinsic toroidal rotation profile and the logarithmic gradient of the electron density profile. The intrinsic toroidal rotation in the center of the plasma reverses from co- to countercurrent when the logarithmic density gradients are large, and the turbulence is either dominated by trapped electron modes or is at the transition between ion temperature gradient and trapped electron modes. A study based on local gyrokinetic calculations suggests that the dominant trend in the observations can be explained by the combination of residual stresses produced by E × B and profile shearing mechanisms.     

Chemically immobilized T4-bacteriophage for specific Escherichia coli detection using surface plasmon resonance

A bioassay platform using T4 bacteriophage (T4) as the specific receptor and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) as the transduction technique has been developed for the detection of Escherichia coli K12 bacteria. The T4 phages have been covalently immobilized onto gold surfaces using a self-assembled monolayer of dithiobis(succinimidyl propionate) (DTSP). Substrates of BSA/EA-T4/DTSP/Au prepared using different T4 phage concentrations have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The studies reveal that the use of DTSP results in a uniform binding of T4 phages onto the surface. The SPR analysis demonstrates that these BSA/EA-T4/DTSP/Au interfaces can detect the E. coli K12 with high specificity against non-host E. coli NP10 and NP30. Results of SEM and SPR studies indicate that the maximum host bacterial capture is obtained when 1.5 × 10(11) pfu ml(-1) concentration of T4 phages was used for immobilization. The surface of these chemically anchored phage substrates can be regenerated for repeated detection of E. coli K12 and can be used for detection in 7 × 10(2) to 7 × 10(8) cfu ml(-1) range. The results of these studies have implications for the development of online bioassays for the detection of various food and water borne pathogens using the inherent selectivity of bacteriophage recognition.     

Determination of intracellular glutathione and glutathione disulfide using high performance liquid chromatography with acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection

Measurement of glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) is a crucial tool to assess cellular redox state. Herein we report a direct approach to determine intracellular GSH based on a rapid chromatographic separation coupled with acidic potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection, which was extended to GSSG by incorporating thiol blocking and disulfide bond reduction. Importantly, this simple procedure avoids derivatisation of GSH (thus minimising auto-oxidation) and overcomes problems encountered when deriving the concentration of GSSG from 'total GSH'. The linear range and limit of detection for both analytes were 7.5 × 10(-7) to 1 × 10(-5) M, and 5 × 10(-7) M, respectively. GSH and GSSG were determined in cultured muscle cells treated for 24 h with glucose oxidase (0, 15, 30, 100, 250 and 500 mU mL(-1)), which exposed them to a continuous source of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Both analyte concentrations were greater in myotubes treated with 100 or 250 mU mL(-1) glucose oxidase (compared to untreated controls), but were significantly lower in myotubes treated with 500 mU mL(-1) (p < 0.05), which was rationalised by considering measurements of H(2)O(2) and cell viability. However, the GSH/GSSG ratio in myotubes treated with 100, 250 and 500 mU mL(-1) glucose oxidase exhibited a dose-dependent decrease that reflected the increase in intracellular ROS.     

High-p jets in diffractive electroproduction

The diffractive production of high-p jets in deep-inelastic scattering is studied in the semiclassical approach. The p-spectra of and diffractive final states are found to be qualitatively different. For fina states, which are produced by ‘hard’ colour-singlet exchange, the p-spectrum is much softer than for final states, where the colour neutralization is ‘soft’. Furthermore, the two different final states can be clearly distinguished by their diffractive mass distributions.     

Large-signal characteristics of a wide-band dielectric-loadedgyro-TWT amplifier

The bandwidth of a gyrotron traveling wave amplifier (gyro-TWT) has been significantly increased by partially filling the interaction waveguide with dielectric to reduce the circuit's dispersion. The proof-of-principle experiment was designed for X-band, and employs the fundamental mode of rectangular waveguide loaded with dielectric slabs along the narrow sidewalls. The amplifier yields a peak output power of 55 kW with 11% efficiency, 27 dB saturated gain, and an unprecedented untapered gyro-TWT constant-drive bandwidth of 11% and saturated bandwidth exceeding 14%. The single-stage amplifier is completely zero-drive stable. The 95-kV 5-A electron beam was produced by a single-anode magnetron injection gun with p_⊥/υ_z=0.6, as determined by the EGUN code, and Δυ_z/υ_z=4%, determined as the best fit to the gyro-TWT large-signal simulation data. Simulation studies predict that by lowering the velocity spread to Δυ _z/υ_z=2%, the amplifier performance will be further enhanced to a constant-drive bandwidth of 20% with 15% efficiency     

Effect of viscous dissipation on the mixed convection heat transfer from an exponentially stretching surface

The mixed convection flow and heat transfer from an exponentially stretching vertical surface in a quiescent fluid is analyzed using similarity solution technique. Wall temperature and stretching velocity are assumed to have specific exponential function forms. The influence of buoyancy along with viscous dissipation on the convective transport in the boundary layer region is analyzed in both aiding and opposing flow situations. The flow is governed by the mixed convection parameter Gr/Re². The velocity and temperature inside the boundary layer are observed to be influenced by the parameters like Prandtl number Pr, Gebhart number Gb. Significant changes are observed in non-dimensional skin friction and heat transfer coefficients due to viscous dissipation in the medium. The flow and temperature distributions inside the boundary layer are analyzed and the results for non-dimensional skin friction and heat transfer coefficients are discussed through computer generated plots.     

Determination of risperidone and 9‐Hydroxyrisperidone using HPLC,in plasma of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural disorders

A simple, rapid, selective, accurate and precise method is described for the determination of risperidone and its active metabolite, 9‐hydroxyrisperidone, in plasma using a chemical derivative of risperidone (methyl‐risperidone) as the internal standard. The sample workup involved a single‐step extraction of 1 mL plasma, buffered to pH 10, with heptane–isoamyl alcohol (98:2 v/v), then evaporation of the heptane phase and reconstitution of the residue in mobile phase. HPLC separation was carried out at on C₁₈ column using a mobile phase of 0.05 m dipotassium hydrogen orthophosphate (containing 0.3% v/v triethylamine) adjusted to pH 3.7 with orthophosphoric acid (700 mL), and acetonitrile (300 mL). Flow rate was 0.6 mL/min and the detection wavelength was 280 nm. Retention times were 2.6, 3.7 and 5.8 min for 9‐hydroxy risperidone, risperidone and the internal standard, respectively. Linearity in spiked plasma was demonstrated from 2 to 100 ng/mL for both risperidone and 9‐hydroxyrisperidone (r ≥ 0.999). Total imprecision was less than 13% (determined as co‐efficient of variation) and the inaccuracy was less than 12% at spiked concentrations of 5 and 80 ng/mL. The limit of detection, determined as three times the baseline noise, was 1.5 ng/mL. Clinical application of the assay was demonstrated for analysis of post‐dose (0.55–4.0 mg/day) samples from 28 paediatric patients (aged 6.9–17.9 years) who were taking risperidone orally for behavioural and emotional disorders. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.